Crimea residents to pay for Russian citizenship

The situation in Crimea after Russian occupation moves towards unification of the legal system of the peninsula, and now Crimea is subdued to "paid" legislation of the Russian Federation.

From January 1, 2015 the Federal Migration Service of Russia in Crimea has begun to transfer the Crimean government agencies to Russian laws and customs duties, Petro Yarosh, the head of the Federal Migration Service in Crimea says. From now on, the peninsula residents will pay for Crimea.

According to Petro Yarosh, the residents will pay a fee for each administrative service provided by the FMS. Thus, a foreign passport application will cost 3500 rubles (about $60), a passport of a Russian citizen – 300 rubles (about $5). These funds will be transferred to the treasury of Crimea, the official says.

According to Yarosh, about 3.4 thousand Crimeans refused to obtain the Russian passport. Such people are considered to be foreign nationals living in Crimea. They are issued residence permits in the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, in Crimea the situation with food supply for the population is complicated by the transition to the laws of the Russian entrepreneurs. Too many businessmen did not have time to re-register their business according to the Russian legislation till the end of the transitional period, i.e. until the end of the last year. And now they are outside the legal field. It has led to the fact that trade in the markets of the peninsula is completely paralyzed.

Andrei Illarionov, a former adviser to President Putin, believes that Russia will have to return annexed Crimea to Ukraine in March 2014, and then to pay reparations for the violation of the international law.